Mmmm Brooks..You're lucky to have a so well rounded shop in your area. seems like they cater to ALL bikers,not just the racer wanabes.

Chisenhallw

10-30-2011 08:38 PM

Argh. Why does racing have to be so bloody expensive?

I've got a 1986 Medici Pro Strada hanging on my wall right now, bone stock, in *amazing* shape. Shimano Dura-Ace components (from 1986). It's a great bike. I love it. It was given to me by a very dear friend. I spent a season racing on it as it was, doing things like crits and TT's. Had a great time, and did everything on it from finish 2nd in a TT to dead last in a crit when my front der cable went (I said screw it and finished anyway).

I'd really like to update the drivetrain to, oh, I dunno, anything from this millennium. Moving the shifters off the downtoube and up onto the bars would be spectacular. To do that new would put me out in the street. Not to mention I don't even have clipless pedals and shoes.. :becca

Whining will now cease.

TheYeti

10-30-2011 09:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chisenhallw
(Post 17194582)

Argh. Why does racing have to be so bloody expensive?

I've got a 1986 Medici Pro Strada hanging on my wall right now, bone stock, in *amazing* shape. Shimano Dura-Ace components (from 1986). It's a great bike. I love it. It was given to me by a very dear friend. I spent a season racing on it as it was, doing things like crits and TT's. Had a great time, and did everything on it from finish 2nd in a TT to dead last in a crit when my front der cable went (I said screw it and finished anyway).

I'd really like to update the drivetrain to, oh, I dunno, anything from this millennium. Moving the shifters off the downtoube and up onto the bars would be spectacular. To do that new would put me out in the street. Not to mention I don't even have clipless pedals and shoes.. :becca

Whining will now cease.

Keep it stock ,buy something newer than the Jurrasic era. I've got a cannondale from that era I changed the the rear drive to Campy chorus 8 speed, it costs more than the bike was worth in 1996.

Chisenhallw

10-30-2011 10:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheYeti
(Post 17195014)

Keep it stock ,buy something newer than the Jurrasic era. I've got a cannondale from that era I changed the the rear drive to Campy chorus 8 speed, it costs more than the bike was worth in 1996.

Can't afford to buy something newer, brother.

pierce

10-30-2011 10:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chisenhallw
(Post 17194582)

I'd really like to update the drivetrain to, oh, I dunno, anything from this millennium. Moving the shifters off the downtoube and up onto the bars would be spectacular. To do that new would put me out in the street. Not to mention I don't even have clipless pedals and shoes.. :becca

Whining will now cease.

it shouldn't be hard to convert to brifters, just need to retape the bars and install cable stops where the current shifters are. if your downtube shifters are on braze-ons, its a little uglier than if they are clamped on.

what brifters you could use would depend on what the gearing is... is this a 7, 8, or 9 speed rear? if its a 7 speed, it might be hard to find compatible brifters of decent quality, but you could always use bar end shifters, again just need to retape the bars...

late 80s duraace still is good stuff, the only reason to 'upgrade' it would be to change the sprocket count, and that likely would require a new rear wheel, and possibly re-spacing the rear frame, which is NOT a good idea if its an aluminum bike (relatively easy if its steel).

Chisenhallw

10-30-2011 11:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pierce
(Post 17195260)

it shouldn't be hard to convert to brifters, just need to retape the bars and install cable stops where the current shifters are. if your downtube shifters are on braze-ons, its a little uglier than if they are clamped on.

what brifters you could use would depend on what the gearing is... is this a 7, 8, or 9 speed rear? if its a 7 speed, it might be hard to find compatible brifters of decent quality, but you could always use bar end shifters, again just need to retape the bars...

late 80s duraace still is good stuff, the only reason to 'upgrade' it would be to change the sprocket count, and that likely would require a new rear wheel, and possibly re-spacing the rear frame, which is NOT a good idea if its an aluminum bike (relatively easy if its steel).

Dude, I would love to switch to brifters. But the hard part about converting to brifters are A) nobody's willing to come off of any* and B) the FD isn't indexed, it's still a tension shifter. I'd have to find an indexed FD, and then I'd...you get my drift. The drivetrain is still in good condition, but it sure would be nice to able to shift on my bars.

I already know I'd have to stretch the frame by 4mm to get a new sprocket on there. It's a columbus steel frame so I'm not worried about 4mm.

* -Or bar ends. Can't find those either.

pierce

10-30-2011 11:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chisenhallw
(Post 17195291)

Dude, I would love to switch to brifters. But the hard part about converting to brifters are A) nobody's willing to come off of any* and B) the FD isn't indexed, it's still a tension shifter. I'd have to find an indexed FD, and then I'd...you get my drift. The drivetrain is still in good condition, but it sure would be nice to able to shift on my bars.

I already know I'd have to stretch the frame by 4mm to get a new sprocket on there. It's a columbus steel frame so I'm not worried about 4mm.

* -Or bar ends. Can't find those either.

derailleurs aren't indexed, its the shifters that are. the derailleur just needs the right amount of travel to cable motion ratio to work with an indexed shifter.

I've got a set of bar-end shifters here I was going to put on my son's late 70s trek, but his has brazed-on downshifters, so putting cable stops down there would be a pain.. these bar end shifters are friction for the front, and either friction or 7-8 speed indexed for the rear. I think they are Shimano, I forget what part number or series ...

mud

10-31-2011 07:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pierce
(Post 17195329)

I've got a set of bar-end shifters here I was going to put on my son's late 70s trek, but his has brazed-on downshifters, so putting cable stops down there would be a pain.. these bar end shifters are friction for the front, and either friction or 7-8 speed indexed for the rear. I think they are Shimano, I forget what part number or series ...

Why are these a pain. I realize they are kind of ugly, but they work good.

Dude, I would love to switch to brifters. But the hard part about converting to brifters are A) nobody's willing to come off of any* and B) the FD isn't indexed, it's still a tension shifter. I'd have to find an indexed FD, and then I'd...you get my drift. The drivetrain is still in good condition, but it sure would be nice to able to shift on my bars.

I already know I'd have to stretch the frame by 4mm to get a new sprocket on there. It's a columbus steel frame so I'm not worried about 4mm.

* -Or bar ends. Can't find those either.

Patience Grasshopper. Everything comes to those that wait. IOW Cl and ebay are your friends. Search craiglook or other nationwide search sites. :nod Winter is not the time to buy this kind of stuff. :nah Wait till spring when the 'upgrade bug' hits. :nod

Derailleurs just move the chain. Like Pierce said all the indexing is in the levers. I've successfully run front derailleurs of that vintage with both Shimano's and SRAM's shifters. In fact, I have an XTR front derailleur on my Crosshairs now. Not only is it vintage, its not even supposed to work with road shifters!

If you stick with Shimano STI you may not even have to buy a new rear derailleur. Go to SRAM and you will.

To change the subject: I went racing yesterday. Met all 4 of my goals* but still had a so-so race. The effort felt like 100% but the speed and placings told me a different story. :nod 21st out of 43 in the 4 field. :bluduh Wasn't as bad a course as my buddy Tony suggested it would be. :nah Yeah, there was some slick concrete that people went down on, but I didn't. Yeah, there were lots of curb to pavement transitions that people went down on but I didn't. ...and yeah, there was lots of mud in the 'infield.' My FMB tire sucks eggs in the mud. :baldy Gotta change that. :nod

I've decided that I shouldn't stay up till 0130 the nite before a race. I shouldn't take the day before a race off. (weather got me on Sat. It was 35-40-ish and raining/sleeting. Most of all, when its cold out, warm up on a trainer. :nod That last one means getting a more portable trainer. My Cateye is a great thing, but its big. Hard to haul around.

You wouldn't think that 30min of racing would make my legs this tired, but it did. :huh I'm going to go out for an easy hour here in a bit. Spin the legs out some.